Box Score NEWPORT, R.I.--Senior co-captain Katie Eckert came off the bench to grab a team-high 10 rebounds, and junior post Samantha McCann led Western New England with nine points, but the Golden Bears couldn't shake a cold-shooting night in a 49-34 road loss to Salve Regina in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at the Rodgers Recreation Center. The Golden Bears slip under .500 at 7-8 overall and 4-5 in the CCC, while the host Seahawks improve to 8-8 on the season and 6-3 in conference play.

Marissa Pendergast paced Salve with a double-double of 10 points and 15 rebounds while teammate Meaghan Harden led all scorers with 13 points.

Both teams struggled offensively as WNE made 12-of-57 field goal attempts for only 21.1 percent, and Salve didn't fare much better at 31.5 percent on 17-of-54 from the floor.

Western New England was without the services of sophomore Chelsea Vujs and her 12.9 points per game and CCC-leading 10.1 rebounding average, sitting out the contest due to an injury.

Salve Regina, which led buzzer-to-buzzer, began the game with an 8-0 run, led by as many as 13 points in the first half, and took a 26-14 cushion into the locker room.

In the second half, WNE got back under a 10-point deficit once at the 17:53 mark when McCann drained a 3-pointer to make it 28-20. But, Salve eventually pushed the lead up to 21 points late before WNE scored the final six points of the game on four points from freshman Sammie Olson (6 points) and a lay-in by Eckert (6 points).

Western New England gets back to the hardwood on Saturday when it will host CCC co-leader and defending conference champion University of New England (8-1, 13-2) at the Alumni Healthful Living Center; tip-off is set for 1 p.m.